LOS ANGELES – What an incredible first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. There has 
never been anything like it in the history of the NHL. The President’s Trophy winner with the most points in NHL history the Boston Bruins are out. The defending Stanley Cup Champion Colorado Avalanche are out. The dynastic Tampa Bay Lightning are out. The New York Rangers who added Hall of Fame wingers are out. The Toronto Maple Leafs won a playoff series. The 2nd year franchise Seattle Kraken advanced. Everyone’s brackets are shattered. I made only 2 correct predictions. Not too long ago I had a perfect bracket when the Cup was handed out. That is how mercurial the playoffs have become. You literally just have to get in. Underdogs won and road teams dominated. As much fun as we are having we have 3 more rounds of chaos coming are way. The only way to recap round 1 and predict round 2 this year is with fire hot takes.
Eastern Conference
FLORIDA /BOSTON
Saint Patrice Bergeron had a bad back, give him the Sulky. Bergeron’s teams have lost more big games than they’ve won. Jim Montgomery was out couched by Paul Maurice. Jeremy Swayman should have started Game 6 not 7. Trent Frederic should have played every game.
Sergei Bobrovsky was worth the 10 million. All due respect to Auston Matthews and Patrick Kane, Matthew Tkachuk is the best American player in the NHL. Sam Bennett and Anthony Duclair being healthy closed the talent gap between these 2 teams. Brandon Montour played like a Norris Trophy winner. Is Sasha Barkov ever going to completely jump into the playoff pool or is he always just going to stick his tow in the water.
TORONTO /TAMPA
Toronto’s Big 4 all came through in this series. Morgan Rielly played like a number 1 defenseman. Luke Schenn is the perfect partner for Rielly. He’s physical and positionally sound. Ilya Samsonov gave the Leafs winning goaltending. He made the saves he needed to make. Toronto losing Michael Bunting for knocking out Erik Cernak was a trade the Leafs will take 11 out of 10 times. Matthew Knies is a cool customer for a rookie. He assisted on the series clinching overtime goal. Knies also deftly pulled a puck off his own goal line in Game 4. Andrei Vasilevskiy looked human. Kyle Dubas got it right by acquiring Ryan O’Reilly. He finally got a veteran who won something. See Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau and Wayne Simmonds. The Lightning really missed Ryan McDonagh. They needed a top 4 defenseman more than they needed a healthy scratched Tanner Jeannot. Nikika Kucherov was a no show.
CAROLINA / ISLANDERS
Carolina played like a wounded animal. Rod Brind ‘Amour switching from Antti Raanta to Freddie Andersen was brilliant because it worked.
Matthew Bazal is not a star, let alone superstar. Bo Horvat was a non -actor. Was it karma for crapping on Vancouver? Other than 4 minutes in Game 3 the Islanders did almost nothing on offense. Ilya Sorokin did not play like he did in the regular season. Sebastain Aho is a star and one round away from being a superstar. Injuries to scorers Andrei Svechnikov , Teuvo Teravainen and Max Pacioretty have made watching the Canes offense as exciting as a watching a hurricane that’s been downgraded to a tropical storm.
NEW JERSEY / RANGERS
At least Gerard Gallant won’t have trouble getting a cab this time. Jakob Trouba waited too long to try to injure someone. Lindy Ruff’s speech after the teams Game 2 loss must have been a good one.
Timo Meier didn’t score a goal and Devils won. Akira Schmid was absolutely Broduer like in 4 of 5 games. The Devils were the fastest team I’ve ever seen, they skated circles around the Rangers. The Devils cleared the puck before the Rangers entered the zone. Jack Hughes is the best forward in the New York Metropolitan Area. Chicago fans don’t have to worry about Patrick Kane making memories in New York or at least good memories.
TORONTO over FLORIDA in 7
The Leafs have removed the can’t win a playoff series moniker off their backs. Now they will remove the can’t win a home Game 7.
NEW JERSEY over CAROLINA in 5
Carolina cannot score enough goals to win series even if they hold the Devils relatively in check.
Western Conference
DALLAS / MINNESOTA
Jake Oettinger is the best goaltender in the NHL. Roope Hintz has become a dominant number one center. Tyler Seguin had a John Travolta Pulp Fiction career resurrection filling in for Joe Pavelski on the Stars top line. Wild Head Coach Dean Evason came unhinged. Losing your mind on the bench NEVER helps your team. Ask Gerard Gallant.
Teams that put Ryan Reaves on the ice and not in the press box don’t win playoff series. Starting Marc-Andre Fleury in Game 2 was a mistake, putting him in to mop up Game 7 was cruel. The Flower deserves better.
SEATTLE / COLORADO
How sweet is the revenge Philipp Grubauer is feeling. Seattle proves the eighth best player on every makes a very good team. If you’re fourth best forward is either J T Compher or Evan Rodrigues I don’t care who’s on your blue line , you’re not going to win a playoff round. They had all year to replace Nazem Kadri. Val Nichushkin ?? Even Alex Radulov is shaking his head Andrew Cogliano returning to play with a broken neck is even more Iron Man than his Iron Man streak. It’s one of the most bad ass things ever.
EDMONTON/ LOS ANGELES
Sam Skinner outplayed Joonis Korpisalo with a huge assist from former King Jack Campbell. Kailer Yamamoto late goal saved Skinner from being an infamous goat in the old school meaning of goat. Skinner’s free pizza giveaway to Phillip Danault was the biggest Oiler gaffe since Steve Smith. Worse than drafting Nail Yakapov. Anze Kopitar and Phillip Danault are the best two defensive centers Connor McDavid will face.
Connor McJesus is the best player since Mario Lemieux. Leon Draisaitl being on the ice for Edmonton’s first 14 goals is sublime. Evan Buchard is turning into a a top flight defensemen.
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VEGAS /WINNEPEG
Jack Eichel played pretty good first playoff series after being -3 in Game 1. I can count how many times I have been as happy in my life as Mark Stone is after every goal he scores on two hands. Who knew Laurent Brossoit was still in the NHL ? Phil Kessel was a healthy scratch. You don’t see that every 1000 games. Rick Bowness was correct, the Jets are a bunch of winy babies but he just substantially ruined their trade value. Adam Lowry should be the Jets next Captain and they should get rid of everyone else not named Kyle Connor, Josh Morrissey or Neal Pionk.
DALLAS in 6 over SEATTLE.
The Kraken are a great story the Stars are a great team. Every Kraken line is a good 3rd line. The Stars have a great first line and 2 good second lines.
EDMONTON in 6 over Vegas.
The Oilers beat an excellent Kings team and McDavid was just warming up.
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